Advocate magazine names person of the year

The Advocate's Person of the Year, Vladimir Putin

Driving the governmental, religious, and popular disdain for gays and lesbians, the Russian president became the single greatest threat to LGBTs in the world in 2014.

“Imagine a boy who dreams of being a KGB officer
when everyone else wants to be a cosmonaut.”

This quote appears early in The Man Without a Face, Masha Gessen’s 2012 biography of Vladimir Putin. It’s as succinct and illuminating a characterization of the Russian president as you’re likely to find. The KGB, after all, perfected the thuggery, espionage, and aimless bureaucracy that are hallmarks of Putin’s regime. The agency’s crackdown on dissidents offered a blueprint for Putin’s own strongman excesses. That he aspired to such a career as a child tells us something useful about his psychopathology: This is a man hardwired to intimidate. Read more

Harvard University Is Offering A Workshop On Anal Sex

Tonight Harvard University will offer a course on anal sex for the very first time as part of its annual Sex Week program.

At Harvard, Sex Week consists of “a week of programming that is interdisciplinary, thought-provoking, scholastic, innovative and applicable to student experiences in order to promote a holistic understanding of sex and sexuality.”

The classes are hosted by a student-run group at the school, Sexual Health Education & Advocacy or SHEATH. Read more

Pro Strongman champion Rob Kearney comes out as gay

Rob Kearney is the first self-acknowledged gay man to be actively competing in pro-level, international strongman competition. He is in a pantheon of brave souls who decided to not hide for the fear of harming their social status or career aspirations.

Coming out in any arena is a pressure-filled venture.  We often forget that this world is still rather ignorant when it comes to same-gender love and sex.  There is plenty of hate brewing - and plenty of folks who act on that hate to cause harm and instill fear in those who may love another of the same sex.  To be the first of something unique is not something we all get a chance to experience in life.  But to be the first 'gay" something can be just as frightening as it can be positive. Read more

Olympic rower Robbie Manson comes out as gay

Robbie Manson, Olympic rower for New Zealand, comes out publicly as gay, talks about the struggles in the closet and coming out to friends before the 2012 Olympics.

Two and a half years ago I made the scariest decision of my life: to come out.

I feel like there has always been a confident, outgoing side of me dying to come out. But from an early age I realized that I was different from most other guys. I desperately tried to hide that "different" side of myself. In doing so I inadvertently became very quiet and shy, shutting myself off and avoiding attention for fear that someone might discover my deepest, darkest secret: I'm gay. Read more

Benjy the 'gay 'bull saved from slaughter by fundraising effort.

A bull branded gay, has been saved from the slaughterhouse by charity donations, including £5,000 from Sam Simon, co-creator of the Simpsons. Benjy, from County Mayo, Ireland, was destined for the abattoir after showing more interest in breeding with other bulls than cows.

Gay and animal rights campaigners launched a joint online campaign to save Benjy. It went viral.

Benjy's story first came to light when his owner mentioned to friend and local journalist, Joanna McNicholas, that Benjy was not fulfilling his farm role, and would have to be reluctantly sent for slaughter. Read More

Gay+ song wins Country Music Awards song of the year

“Oh my goodness! Do y’all know what this means for country music?!”

That’s what the charming Kacey Musgraves said when she won the prize for Song of the Year for her controversial hit “Follow Your Arrow” at last night’s Country Music Awards. And she’s right—that the Country Music Association recognized a song with such a progressive (or at least libertarian) message is a big deal. Read More

Canadian Museum of History to add gay stories to exhibits

The Canadian Museum of History announced a formal partnership with the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) June 18 to include gay Canadian history in a newly renovated and expanded Canadian History Hall, set to open on Canada’s 150th birthday, on July 1, 2017.

The $30-million renovation, of which $25 million comes from the federal government and another $5 million will be raised by donations, will be the first major overhaul of the exhibit since the museum opened in Gatineau in 1989 as the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Read More

Kenyan Hip Hop Group Pushes Boundaries

"I AM" is a Kenyan hip hop group, consisting of rappers Sue Timon, Grammo Suspect and singer Miss Isle, whose "main agenda" is to be LGBTQ activists. Check it out

Study: The world is becoming a better place to be gay

Social researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago and the LGBT think-tank Williams Institute at UCLA said acceptance has grown by an average of 0.9% annually by nation.

'This study shows a clear trend toward increasing acceptance across the globe,' Andrew Park, director of International Programs at the Williams Institute, said.
Researchers studied hundreds of surveys on attitudes toward gay men and lesbians in up to 52 countries since 1981.  Read More 

Students at Japan High School Switch Uniforms With Opposite Sex

A high school in Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture has come up with a unique way for its students to see their world from a different perspective. Fuji Hokuryo High School this week held what it calls a “Sexchange Day,” in which nearly 300 of its students traded uniforms with the opposite sex and attended classes.

“This is a project for students to observe things differently” without being bound by their gender, Hirofumi Miyashita, the school’s vice principal, told Japan Real Time. Read More

Thailand launches world's first transgender modeling agency

A Thai modeling agency has launched the first transgender model division in the world.

The Bangkok-based Apple Modeling Agency announced the division on Tuesday (11 November) and has 18 transgender girls on its books. Apple is one of the leading and largest modeling agencies in the southeast Asian country. Read More

Choir stages singalong, 'Safe to Sing,' on Manchester trams after homophobic attack

A lesbian and gay choir staged a mass singalong on Manchester’s tram network after homophobic thugs attacked two young gay men who were singing songs from the musical Wicked on a night out.

The event – entitled Safe to Sing – started with about 80 singers boarding trams in the city centre on Monday evening to belt out tunes including Somewhere, from West Side Story, and Petula Clark’s Downtown – with the main refrain changed to “Canal Street”, the heart of Manchester’s gay village. Read More